Experts have called for the government to “step up” and take action over the “unacceptable” marketing of all baby and toddler food, as it becomes clear that problems with the UK’s babyfood industry are not limited to pouches.
The news comes in the wake of BBC’s Panorama exposé of babyfood pouches, which outlined that some babyfood being sold in plastic pouches is low in essential vitamins and minerals, while others contain more sugar than is recommended, or have inaccurate nutrition labelling.
An upcoming report from The Food Foundation, focusing on the diet and health of UK preschoolers and set to be published on 14 May, has revealed the problem goes beyond pouches. Marketing for snacks designed for babies and toddlers is also deemed to be “out of control”, with an average of 20 on-pack marketing claims per product.
The research, which was carried out by Action on Salt and Sugar, checked the packaging of 133 commercial baby and toddler snacks, specifically those aimed at children younger than three years, such as puffs, biscuits and wafers.
It found there were more than 2,000 individual promotional claims made, with anywhere between nine to 43 claims on a single product.
The most common marketing claims related to the natural or healthy nature of the ingredients (28% of all claims), followed by claims around the presence or absence of certain ingredients (21%). Many of the products which claimed to be healthy contained high amounts of sugars.
Parents ‘trust’ babyfood marketing
Almost half of UK parents of children under three use products from the commercial baby and toddler food aisle ‘always’ or ‘most of the time’. This is particularly high for parents of 12 to 18-month-olds, where these foods account for 13% of total sugar consumption.
Parents said they trust commercial babyfoods have been designed by nutritionists and experts to meet young children’s dietary needs and follow UK standards.
However, while these claims might not be strictly inaccurate, they are deliberately creating a “health halo” for products that simply aren’t healthy.
“It is unacceptable for baby and toddler snacks to contain such high levels of sugar and then be marketed with up to 43 claims on pack,” said Action on Salt and Sugar’s Zoe Davies.
“Parents deserve better nutrition for their children and transparency from food businesses in what is already a very challenging and exhausting time in their life. As the food companies aren’t acting fast enough, the government must urgently regulate the nutritional content and marketing of foods for babies and young children.”
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